The use of Elisa in the detection of bovine tuberculosis in slaughtered trade cattle and sedentary herds in south west Nigeria

The control of bovine tuberculosis is aimed at detection and removal of infected animal to prevent the spread of infection both within and between farms, the diagnosis of TB is often made at necropsy, using Tuberculin skin test and by Mycobacterium isolation. These methods are not suited for mass screening hence the need for sensitive and reliable diagnosis method especially in a developing economy. In this study, sera were collected from 247 cattle from three major cosmopolitan abattoirs in three southwestern states of Nigeria; Lagos, Oyo, Osun states while 100 cattle were also sampled form sedentary herds with history of endemic tuberculosis confirmed by intradermal tuberculosis test and cultural technique. The sera were screened using the ELISA Technique. A total seroprevalence of 36.3% was observed with seroprevalence of 45.7% in slaughtered cattle and 13% of sedentary herd in Southwestern Nigeria. This shows a higher prevalence when compared with previous studies in the same environment. Comparing the clinical signs of TB and some gross lesions with the sero-positivity indicates the high sensitivity of the antibody ELISA. An observation of 4.8% prevalence among cattle with apparently good body condition indicates that some cattle incubate the disease without exhibiting clinical signs. The comparative study of sex relationship in bovine TB, showed no sex preference as both sexes are at equal risk of infection. There is the need for combination of test methods including ELISA for mass screening of animals' population for bovine tuberculosis especially in developing nations with less sophisticated diagnostic tools used in detection and control of the zoonosis.